Halo Reach: What Could Have Been
by I Am The Krow
Summary: I was thinking about the ending of Halo Reach the other day, and I got the idea for this story. This story is about what could've happened when Noble Six was attacked by the Zealots. Read, review, enjoy!
1. Chapter 1: The Rescue

_You know,I was thinking earlier about the ending of Halo: Reach._

_What if Six hadn't died? What if Jun had come to his rescue?_

_This is what could have been in Halo: Reach. By the way, it has a couple of flashbacks in it._

_/_

Halo Reach: What Could Have Been

Chapter 1: Rescue

Banshees and Phantoms soared overhead. Ghosts and Wraiths patrolled the dusty countryside. UNSC and Covenant bodies littered the ground. Reach was lost. The Covenant had taken the planet. Down in the Aszod shipyards, a battle was taking place. A lone SPARTAN, codename Noble Six, was fighting for his life against Elite Zealots and a single Field Marshall. Noble Six's helmet visor had cracked, his armor shields were depleting, and he was being attacked by several Zealots with Plasma Rifles and Energy Swords.

Six pulled off his helmet and dropped it. He knew he made the right choice when he had stayed behind to destroy the Covenant ship and make sure the AI had gotten off of Reach. He staggered and pulled out his pistol. He had his assault rifle in his right hand, and his pistol in the other, firing away at the Zealots closing in. He was blasted in the side by plasma bolts, making his shields deplete all the way. He fired more rounds and taken down two Zealots. The last Elite, a Field Marshall, tackled him, chopping his assault rifle in the process, and aimed its Energy Sword at his chest. Six closed his eyes and waited for death to embrace him. It never came.

A sniper rifle rang out and the next thing Six knew was the Field Marshall had a gaping hole in its head. Six lay still in fear of other Elites noticing. A silver Zealot ran from behind a building, only to share the same fate. All was quiet, so Six pushed the dead Field Marshall off of him. He limped into the building next to him. His armor was burned. He could feel blood coming from his side, and he looked for a med-kit. He saw one in a dead Marine's hand. He pulled it out of his hand, opened it, and pulled out a can of bio-foam. He put the nozzle in his wound and pulled the trigger. He winced as pain enveloped the side of his abdomen.

He lay against the wall, thinking of his fallen comrades. Jorge, Kat, Carter, and Emile had all died. The only one left in his squad besides himself was Jun, a sniper, but he had left with Dr Catherine Halsey to get her off Reach. Six looked out the doorway and what he saw next he thought was a mirrage. It looked like Jun was out there, searching the area. Once Jun saw him, he went through the entrance.

"I don't believe it. I thought you went with Captain Keyes and boarded the _Pillar of Autumn_." Jun said, taking off his helmet.

"I had to finish the mission. There was no other choice." Six said.

"Well, by you saying that, I believe you completed the mission." Six nodded his head, not wanting to speak.

"Hey, do you know what happened to Carter and Emile? I saw a destroyed Scarab and the wreckage of a Pelican on my way here in the Warthog."

"Carter crashed his Pelican into the Scarab. There wasn't any way around it." Six remembered the scene all to well.

_Emile: "We can get past it, sir!_

_Carter: "No, you can't. I can do this."_

_Emile: "Sir, you don't have the firepower!"_

_Carter: I have the mass."_

_Emile: "It was an honor serving with you, sir."_

_Carter: "It was with you__, too. Good luck."_

_Carter then crashes the Pelican into the Scarab, causing it to collapse and explode._

"What about Emile? What happened to him?"

"Zealot came up and stabbed him in the back with an Energy Sword."

"Was he at able to at least use his knife?"

"Yes. He twisted around and stabbed the Elite in the neck." Six remembered it, too.

_Emile shoots a Zealot in the chest with his shotgun, causing it to fall off the tower._

_Emile: "Come on! Who else wants some?"_

_A Zealot sneaks up behind Emile and stabs him in the back. Emile twists around._

_Emile: "I'm ready! How 'bout you?"_

_Emile stabs the Zealot in the neck and they both drop off the tower._

"At least he died the way he would have wanted to. In battle, and with his knife."

"Yeah. By the way, why are you still here? I thought you went with Dr Halsey to make sure she got off the planet."

"I came here in a Pelican to see if there were any survivors. Once I saw you and Emile, I raced back to Dr Halsey in my Warthog."

"Where are they?"

"They are currently in an encampent outside SWORD base. Apparently, the Covenant didn't care about it enough to leave troops there."

"Hmm. So are we headed there?"

"You got it, Six."

"Well, let's get going."

"You're going to need something if we're going back there and meet up with some Covenant troops on the way." Jun then walked out the door and returned with Six's usual black helmet and tossed it to him.

"We can repair your visor when we get to the camp."

"Alright. Let's go." Six pushed himself off the ground. Jun looked at him.

"I think you're going to need more than a Magnum if we have to fight."

Six sighed. "You're right. Got any spare weapons on you?"

Jun shook his head and tossed him a couple of pistol magazines.

"That'll have to hold you for now."

Six grunted. He looked around for other weapons he could use. He walked outside and searched the bodies of the Zealots and the Field Marshall. He picked up an Energy Sword, Plasma Rifle, and four plasma grenades. He holstered his pistol on his right leg, walked back over to the building, and went through the door.

"These will have to do for now." Six said, slinging the Plasma Rifle over his shoulder and holstering the Energy Sword on his left leg. Jun grinned.

"Never pegged you as the type to use Covenant weapons." he joked.

"Oh, shut up. I have to use the weapons available to me for the time being, or else I'll have nothing to use." Six said.

"Okay, calm down. I was only joking." Jun said back. He then replaced his helmet on his head. Six did as well.

"Okay, time to head out." Jun said, strolling over to a waiting Warthog Jeep. Six climbed up to the gunner's seat. Jun looked back at him.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to use the machine turret when you're injured?"

"As I said earlier, we have to use the weapons we have for the time being."

"Yeah. Good point."

Six turned forward. "Time to leave Reach."

Jun sped the Warthog over the hill.

/

_And we have the first chapter for my second Halo story._

_Pretty long chapter on this one._

_CJ Lightning 24 out._


	2. Chapter 2: The Arrival

_And here is chapter 2!_

_Big plans are at hand in the remaining UNSC forces outside SWORD base, which is the only UNSC force left on Reach._

_Noble Six and Jun have a big mission ahead of them._

_/_

Halo Reach: What Could Have Been

Chapter 2: The Arrival

The Warthog zoomed over hill after hill, coming to a screeching stop in front of a large encampment. It was filled with UNSC soldiers, commanders, and scientists. Jun climbed out of the driver seat and helped Noble Six down from the gunner's seat. People stared in awe as the two SPARTANs made their way to Dr Halsey's tent at the middle of the camp. Jun pushed open the tent flap, and they walked through. Catherine Halsey was sitting at a desk. She wore a puffy jacket with a hood, grey slacks, and tennis shoes.

"Hello, Jun. Hello, Six" she said, waving to each of them in turn. She then asked about what happened to Carter and Emile.

"Where are Carter and Emile? Aren't they with you?" she said, frowning. Jun and Six shook their heads.

Dr Halsey got the message. She turned her head down and sniffed. Six could've sworn he saw a tear fall off her cheek.

"We can mourn them later. Right now we have a pressing issue at hand. We are planning to fly off Reach and head back to Earth. But there is a problem. There are Covenant anti-aircraft plasma turrets over the location. Four of them, in fact. I want you two to plant explosives on the plasma batteries so they will, in turn, be destroyed. Then we will leave. Oh, I know what you're thinking. What about the Cole protocol? We will plant jamming devices on the Phantoms so they won't be able to track us. After that, it should be smooth sailing." Halsey told them.

"I'm guessing we won't be supplied for the mission." Six said. Halsey shook her head.

"No, I'm sorry. We don't have enough resources to give you spare ammo. I hope you were able to find weapons." she said.

"We still have weapons to use, and, luckily, they're all at full ammo capacity. So we should be ready to go in." Six explained. Halsey nodded.

"Well, then. It looks like you two should be ready to go."

Jun nodded back to Halsey. "We'll get this done, ma'am."

* * *

The Warthog bumped over the dusty fields. It had been an hour since the SPARTANs' conversation with Dr Halsey. It was the middle of a sandstorm, so that could provide for extra stealth in their mission. Jun stood up in the driver's seat.

"Alright, the perfect spot for insertion is just on the cliff there." Jun pinged the location to Six's newly acquired visor. It was black in appearance, but when the helmet was on, you could see as plain as day.

"Okay, let's get moving." Six said. The Warthog zoomed over another hill, then Jun put it to a stop by the base of the cliff. Jun pulled a satchel containing the plasma grenades, opened it, hopped out of the driver's seat, and walked over to the gunner's seat. Jun gave them to Six. Six's wound had healed up a little, so he just jumped off without needing Jun's help.

"Alright, we're moving in. Stay low, follow me, and keep quiet." Jun instructed. Jun pulled out his signature sniper rifle, and Six took out his pistol. They crouched down and crept up the cliff. Once they reached the top, Jun lay down on his stomach.

"I'll cover you from here. Slide down the cliff and get to work. I'll keep you covered." Jun looked into his sniper's scope. There were at least ten Elites, twenty-two Grunts, and one Hunter. _That might be a problem._ Jun thought. As long as Six kept quiet and stayed out of sight of the Covenant, they should be fine. Six crawled to the edge of the cliff, sat down on the edge, and slid down. The cliff juggled him around, bumping this way and that until he ended combat rolling off the base of the cliff and into the Covenant camp.

There were violet purple buildings everywhere. Six crouch-walked over to the corner of a building and looked around the corner. A squadron of Elites were coming his way! He ducked back behind the building and waited until the Elites had passed his hiding spot. He crawled against the building wall and looked again. He saw his first target next to two Grunts. He dodged from bulding to building until he was right behind the Grunts.

He bashed one in the head. It dropped, blood leaking from its skull. Before the second Grunt could scream for backup, Six grabbed its arm and slammed it against the wall. He then crushed its skull with his foot. He pulled the Grunts behind the plasma turret's building. Six went inside the building.

Six saw an energy shield protecting the plasma battery. He pulled out his Plasma Rifle and blasted the shield off. Six then unhooked a plasma grenade from his belt and tossed it inside. He dashed outside. The next plasma turret was a meter away. He sprinted there not alerting any more of the Covenant. Then the plasma grenade did its work and exploded, frying the plasma battery. The turret exploded and crashed over, killing four Elites and six Grunts in the process.

Six repeated the same process with this turret. Another explosion kaboomed out across the Covenant camp. The entire camp was in a frenzy, trying to shield themselves from the falling debris and searching for the one responsible for the destruction of the plasma turrets. Six unloaded plasma bolts into an Elite Ultra, whose shields were down, and dropped it. Six looked for the next turret. It was behind a cluster of buildings at the northwest of the camp. He bolted there and entered the third turret's building. He was met with a colossal punch from an unarmed Elite Zealot. The blow sent Six flying from the building. The Zealot kept going and pounded him into the dirt. He might have been beaten to a pulp if it were not for Jun shooting the Zealot in the back, popping its shields off. The unprepared Elite spun around, and was met with another sniper round to the its chest. It dropped to its knees and collapsed. Six collected himself and got up from the ground.

He went back inside the turret building, downed the energy shields, and tossed another plasma grenade into the the turret's battery. Six ran full pelt to the next one, which was behind a wall of barricades. Six leapt over them, and, once again repeated the process. Six ran outside.

Jun slid off of the cliff and ran for the Warthog. He jumped in, wheeled the Jeep around, and sped for the entrance to the Covenant camp. Six ran through the energy shield in front of the camp. He sprinted for the Warthog and sprang into the gunner's seat.

"GO! GO! GO!" Six cried. Jun put he pedal to the metal and shot the Warthog off like a rocket. Six spun the machine turret around. He couldn't believe his eyes. Seven Ghosts, two Revenants, and a single Wraith tank toting the Hunter in a giant cart were chasing after them. They opened fire all at once.

/

_Now the turrets are destroyed. _

_But will Six and Jun make it out alive?_

_Find out in the next chapter!_

_CJ Lightning 24 out_


	3. Chapter 3: The Chase

Halo Reach: What Could Have Been

Chapter 3: The Chase

Plasma bolts impacted against Six's shields. The Ghosts were tearing into him. He returned fire. Two of the Grunt drivers were shot down, crashing into another three Ghosts. They slammed off the road and exploded into a fiery heap. The Revenants' and Wraith's plasma shells nearly impacted on the Warthog. The Elite driving the lead Revenant shot his Plasma Rifle at Six. Six fired rounds from the machine turret. That Elite lost its arm. It was struggling with driving and stopping the bleeding. It lost focus, crashed, and bled to death.

Now there were two Ghosts, one Revenant, and the Wraith with the Hunter. Six shot at one of the Ghosts, causing it explode after being pelted for thirty seconds straight. The last Ghost shared the same fate. Six shot down the driver of the second Revenant. It came to an abrupt stop at the side of the road with the Elite driver falling out of the driver's seat. The Hunter finally got a shot off and fired its fuel rod gun. The blast exploded right next to the Warthog, nearly melting off the back left tire. Six returned fire and the Hunter soon rolled off the cart and into the dirt. Now there was only the Wraith to worry about.

The Wraith fired another plasma shell and it exploded on the bumper of the Warthog. Six flew off and the Jeep flipped over with Jun still in it. Six flew against a boulder, crashing into it and dazing him. Jun pulled himself out of the blazen wreck of the Warthog. He was crawling away when an Elite popped out of the driver's seat of the Wraith tank. He rushed over to Jun and stomped on his spine repeatedly. Jun screamed out in agony. Six cleared his mind and pulled himself up from the ground. He stared at the Elite, unholstering the Energy Sword and flaring it to life. He charged at the Elite, driving the blade through its chest and pushing it to the ground. He walked back to Jun and crouched next to him.

"You alright?" Six asked him.

"My spine hurts a little, but I'll live." Jun replied, standing back up. Jun went to collect his abandoned sniper rifle that had shot off of its sling during the wrecking of the Warthog. He reslinged it, and walked back to Six.

"Thanks for getting that Elite off me." Jun said.

"Yeah. Our next stop is the field where the Covenant are keeping all of their Phantoms. So, do you want to use the Revenant to get out of here or the Wraith?" Six said back.

"I think we should use the Revenant so the rest of the UNSC can see us so they won't shoot us on sight when we return to camp."

"Fair enough. But, **I'm** driving this time."

"Wheel's all yours, Six."

They walked over to the Revenant. It was still in pretty good shape, considering the purple blood that marked the seat of the driver's position. Six ignored it and clambered in. Jun took the passenger seat next to him, standing up in the seat and unslinging the sniper rifle for if they encountered more Covenant troops on the way to the landing field. Six checked the loadout on the magenta-colored vehicle. It had a plasma cannon in the trunk, and thrusters for speeding up. The thrusters had a screen on the console that showed how long the boosts lasted. The other part was the control stick for the plasma cannon. The stick was used to open the trunk when pulled back and for aiming when going from side to side. The button on top of the handle was used for firing the plasma shells. Turning on the Revenant was a simple process. There was a third pedal on the floor of the vehicle that you had to push. Six stepped on it and the engine and hoverers booted online.

Six launched the Revenant forward. They were passing a rock wall when Jun spotted two Skirmishers patrolling the area. He aimed through the scope and took a shot. One Skirmisher dropped forward onto its triangular face, a hole gaping in its back. The second Skirmisher spun around, saw the SPARTANs in the Revenant, turned back around and ran away. Jun shot at it twice, but both shots missed by inches.

"It could be trying to warn another group of Elites! Floor it!" Jun exclaimed. Six turned the Revenant around and bolted the vehicle forward. The Skirmisher skidded to a stop in front of a river. It leapt on top of the Revenant as it caught up. It charged its Plasma Pistol. Jun grabbed the barrel of his sniper rifle, spun it around, and knocked the Skirmisher off with the butt of the weapon. He wasn't fast enough, as Six's shields popped off with a sizzle. His shields didn't have enough time to charge all the way back up because a group of Brutes, with a chieftain, passed around the corner of a boulder. The chieftain let out a war cry and the Brutes charged at the SPARTANs. Spikers were shot. Six and Jun flew off the Revenant and hid behind it for cover. Six unslinged his Plasma Rifle and returned fire. It was cut short when the cheftain hopped on the Revenant and brought its Gravity Hammer down.

Six and Jun leapt out of the way just as the spot where they just were was smashed. Six turned around and shot at the chieftain with the Plasma Rifle. Its shields flared and it ran backward to the group of Brutes that were still firing. One Brute went down when Jun fired his Sniper Rifle. Six took down another two. One Brute and the chieftain were left. The Brute was met with an Energy Sword to the stomach. The chieftain once again crashed its Gravity Hammer to the ground, knocking Six and Jun backward. It swung again, this time knocking the sniper rifle from Jun's hands. The chieftain kicked Jun down to the ground. It turned back to Six, Gravity Hammer raised. Six unholstered his Energy Sword and flared it on. They charged each other.


	4. Chapter 4: Were It So Easy

Halo Reach: What Could Have Been

Chapter 4: Were It So Easy...

The Brute chieftain swung first. Six leaped over its head in a corkscrew, dodging the bludgeoning that would have awaited him were he not to have countered. The chieftain spun around. Six slashed at the pole of the Gravity Hammer. Sparks flew in all directions as the Energy Sword grappled with the Gravity Hammer. The SPARTAN and the Brute reared back, preparing for another strike at each other.

The chieftain brought the pole of the Gravity Hammer up into Six's stomach. Six staggered over to the left as the chieftain swung the mace a little too close to his arm. Six swiped his Energy Sword at the the chieftain's legs, attempting to cut it down. The chieftain slammed the head of the Gravity Hammer down, disrupting the Energy Sword's cutting path. Six flew back as the blast from the Hammer exploded, the Energy Sword still in his hand. He slammed into a tree and the Energy Sword flew from his grip, landing on the bank next to the river. Six rolled out of the way as the Gravity Hammer once again smashed down. His hand landed on the handle of the Energy Sword, but the chieftain stomped on his hand, Gravity Hammer raised high.

* * *

Jun lay face down, gasping for breath from being kicked in the gut by the Brute chieftain. His visor's field of vision was clouded from dust having flown into it. He lifted his head weakly and saw The chieftain and Six having a duel, Gravity Hammer versus Energy sword. Jun pushed himself up to his knees. He heard a grunt of pain and looked up to see that Six was slammed against a tree. Then he saw the chieftain raise its hammer for another strike. Jun sprang up from the ground and unsheathed his knife. He ran up and jumped on the shoulders of the chieftain, stabbing it in the shoulders and neck.

* * *

Six sat against the tree, watching as Jun sank the knife in and out of the chieftain's shoulders and neck. He got up from the ground and grabbed the Energy Sword. He planted the blade into the chieftain's stomach. Jun jumped down from the chieftain's back and watched as the Brute dropped to the ground.

"Goodnight." Jun said as he retrieved his sniper rifle for the unteenth time that day. Six pulled the Energy Sword out of the chieftain's gut and reholstered it. He walked back to the Revenant. It was pretty smashed up, but it was still operable. He sat back down into the driver seat. They were in luck. The landing field was only a klick away. The Phantom dropships were visible on the horizon. There were at least twenty of them. Jun sat in the passenger's seat. He took up the usual passenger shooter position. Six hit the startup pedal and boosted toward the landing field. He drove to a large boulder and parked the Revenant behind it. He stepped out of the driver's seat and checked around the corner. There was a squad of Elites standing next to a Banshee, which was the only one on the field.

Six turned back to Jun. "Stay here. I'm going to sneak in there and plant the GPS disrupter in the middle of the field. See you soon." He ran full pelt to the closest Phantom. Jun lay back in the seat and waited for Six. Six crouched down. The Elites still hadn't noticed him. They were talking in their own alien language about something. On the compass in Six's HUD, the location of where he should plant the disrupter was a mere five meters away. He silently sprinted to it. He sat the disrupter on the ground and entered the code on the small machine. It vibrated, commencing the disrupting of the GPSs' maps. He snuck back through the landing field to the boulder. He got back in the Revenant. Jun was still sitting in the passenger seat.

"Well, that was uneventful. Not a single bullet or plasma bolt fired." Jun said, chuckling.

"Well, you never know. Those Elites probably fooled me and followed me back here and are waiting just around the corner." Six said back.

"Yeah, let's hope that didn't happen." Jun replied. Immediately after he said that, a plasma grenade flew over his head. It landed on the ground next to the SPARTANs.

"Well, dammit. We were jinxed." Six said before booting the pedal and boosting from the grenade. He was just in time as the grenade went off and smoldered the ground. After the explosion, four Elites ran around the corner with Focus Rifles blazing. Six returned the favor and tossed a frag grenade at the group of Elites. All but one dodged it in time. Pieces from the unlucky Elite flew back from the blast, painting the boulder with gore. Six then fired at the Elites with his Plasma Rifle. The plasma bolts slammed against an Elite, making its shields flare. Six boosted at the Elite, ramming it into the wall of the boulder and killing the Covenant soldier. Six pulled back and spun the Revenant around. The rest of the Elites were standing in a group, preparing to fire upon the SPARTANs. Six didn't give them the chance, however, as he punched the button that fired the plasma cannon. The shell blasted the Elites apart. Six pulled around and boosted off toward the UNSC camp.

* * *

Dr Halsey sat at her desk, twiddling her thumbs. She was awaiting the return of Six and Jun. She then heard a buzzing outside. Her eyes widened in shock. She thought that Covenant soldiers had found their camp. She stood up from her desk and went to the entrance of her tent. She peeked out of the tent flap. A Marine walked up. Dr Halsey opened the flap all the way, letting the Marine in.

"Ah, Private First Class Miller. Any news?" Halsey asked. Miller took his helmet off.

"Yes, ma'am. The SPARTANs have returned from their mission. They're waiting outside." He said.

"Good. Let them in." Halsey said back. Miller opened the tent flap and Jun and Six walked in. They took off their helmets. Miller walked back outside, replacing the helmet on top of his head.

"Well, Jun. How did the mission go? Were you successful?" Halsey questioned. Jun nodded.

"Everything went smoothly, for the most part. All plasma towers were destroyed and the GPS disrupter has been set in place. The Covenant won't even know that we left." Jun replied. Halsey nodded back to Jun.

"Well, then. We should have clear skies for liftoff. Let's get to a Pelican." Halsey walked out of the tent, Jun and Six following her. Halsey called the camp's attention.

"Alright, everyone. It's time to leave Reach. Pack up and get ready to move out." She announced. She then walked to an area outside of the camp. Jun and Six walked with her. Miller came with them. Pilots were sat into the pilot seats, gearing up the Pelicans for flight. Soldiers were filing out of tents and moving to Pelicans. Halsey, Six, Jun, and Miller took the seats up front in the closest Pelican. Five more soldiers and two ODSTs climbed into the Pelican and took seats.

"Leaving time already, eh? I thought we would never leave Reach with our lives." Jun commented.

Halsey sighed. "I just wish Carter, Kat, Emile, and Jorge were with us."

Six put back on his helmet. "Dr Halsey, SPARTANs never die...they're just missing in action." The Pelicans lifted off. The entire fleet of ships entered the atmosphere. Six sat back, thinking of his fallen teammates. He hoped they were resting in peace. The fleet of Pelicans set a course for Earth and began the journey back to the blue and green planet.

/

_So, how'd I do? Was the ending good? Why am I asking you all these questions?_

_Anywho, read and review. Have a nice day!_

_CJ Lightning 24 out_


End file.
